Every Shooting star is a Falling rock
by Amlia B
Summary: Sequel of Stargazing. "Well, sure, be happy about the person that basically conditioned the children for anyone to simply arrive and whisk them away into 'adventures'," Robbie stood and paced, restless. "Because the worst thing that could happen in the real world is to be sloppily tied to a tree, or have all your toys taken away."


"Are you sure you should be here?" Came the quiet question.

Sportacus lifted his head from the job of seasoning the sauce. They had discovered early on that the only thing edible for the both of them was something full of (relatively) health carbohydrates: pasta. And if the hero added just the right ingredients, Robbie was able to fantasize that the tomato sauce was ketchup. So far, it had worked out quite nicely.

"What do you mean?" The elf continued his work, feigning obliviousness. He had found that playing innocent was the best way to make people comfortable enough to explain their problems better to him. A charming smile and kind eyes always helped too.

Robbie also was receptive to such treatment. However, the villain was much more mistrusting than Sportacus' usual company.

He was also more perceptive of the hero's baiting.

"Don't come with 'what do you mean' at me!" The taller exclaimed, gesturing agitated. "You know exactly what I mean, you manipulating elf." He finished, the tyrade over, a complicated emotion clouding his eyes. He looked away.

The hero put the ingredients away, turning off the flame. He approached the other with slow paces.

When playing dumb didn't work, it was always best to talk it out with Robbie. For someone who claimed to be an opposing villain, he was awfully thirsty for other's approval.

"I will be wherever I am needed," he said, trying to look into grey orbes. They remained side cast. "And I will be wherever I desire most," he finished, smiling as those eyes startled to meet his blue own.

Grinning, Sportacus took the other's hand gently, bringing it to his lips and laying there a kiss worth of a sugar melt down.

"As long as I, myself, am desired, of course," he finished, with a playful smile. Robbie snorted, raising his chin imperiously as his hand tightened around the hero's. "You will make do, for now," the taller played along.

They looked at each other for a few instants. Sportacus had no doubt that he loved Robbie. He also knew the other man would coil away if he said anything.

"Go finish dinner, I am starving," Robbie commanded, sitting at the counter, crossing his legs.

Sportacus grinned down at him. "It would be easier if you let go," he indicated their clasped hands.

The villain didn't blush, he had too much pose for that, but he did stutter a bit and his hand became sweaty on the hero's. "W-well, I do enjoy making life more difficult for you!" He boasted with false bravado, squeezing even tighter the elf's hand. He had a very strong grip, probably from all his work with machines.

"I do love a challenge!" Sportacus laughed delighted, jumping over the counter and getting back to dinner, all the while holding Robbie's hand.

o.O.o

Stephanie had once asked Sportacus about Robbie.

She had been in an introspective mood that day, having received a letter from her mother and one from her father.

Not 'parents', she had explained with usual brightness, but he sensed the sorrow underneath the upbeat smile.

They hadn't been a pair at being her parents since divorce had focused all their attention on contracts, property division and who would have guardianship.

Apparently, an eight year old demanded too much attention -and children always did- but in this case, it was enough to warrant a fight over who _wouldn't_ keep her that she overheard at night, with head buried on the pillows and tears clinging to her eyelashes.

She hadn't told Sportacus about that, and it would be sometime until she could talk to anyone about it. However, his crystal was much more than a simple danger detector. It was connected to his magic intimately; it helped him feel what was hurting people, identify the danger easier.

It also gave him insight into the origin of fears and powerful emotions.

"If you are with Robbie-" was how she had started out of the blue, hesitating a long moment after that. He had turned inquisitive eyes at her, earnest in answering in whatever manner he could.

She twisted her bag in her delicate hands, chewing her lips, considering.

He had had a sudden glimpse of an united family: daughter, mother and father.

Then he had seen himself and Robbie, together gazing at the night sky when they both had been sure no one was witness.

Overpowering loneliness and fear then had taken over the image.

Ah.

So that what it was about.

"We are very happy," he assured, promised.

He never lied.

Stephanie searched his eyes. Children always seemed to be the able yo look into people's souls.

Stephanie had grinned up at him, mirth and mischief now shining there as usual.

"Good!"

o.O.o

The sun was bright and the air fresh with the scent of cut grass and sweet flowers. Sportacus jumped around the sport's field, finishing another training sequence. He stopped with a grin, taking a deep breath of the spring atmosphere.

"I wonder what the kids are doing…" He mused out loud, noting the absence of any of the children.

He had seen them earlier from his airship, playing one game or another, but now the town seemed desert. Not even Robbie was around, taking advantage of the quietness.

He shrugged good naturedly, somersaulting in search of anyone. He passed the tree house, the main plaza, the vegetable garden and even the abandoned castle uphill.

The elf ran thoughtful fingers over his moustache. The kids could have piled up in someone's house to play indoor games, and that was alright, even he admitted that people couldn't always be up and active, but rarely would the children go inside so soon.

"Maybe they have gone on an adventure in the woods." He concluded with a smile, running in that direction. For all the smarts he knew they had, he was also quite intimate with the trouble they could get into.

He jumped and twisted over fallen branches, spinning and making splits in mid air as he entered the pacate wood. Sportacus could almost see Robbie's faces at such demonstration of energy 'waste': his mock sickness, his eye rolling, his laziness proclamations.

Sportacus could also see the villain's gaze trained on his person avidly as he executed each maneuver, eyes appreciative as he observed muscles tense and clench under the tight blue uniform.

For all that his partner claimed to antagonize him, for all that huffed and puffed about sports and for all that he professed insult from his blue outfit, Robbie had never complained about the hero's form.

Or that he got to touch it.

Sportacus smiled pleased with himself. Both he and Robbie were aware that he wouldn't be leaving town so soon, the villain's antics more for show and amusement than actual plots.

The elf knew how his magical companion was delighted at creating, inventing and dressing up - or down- for a plan. How Robbie would sometimes, as he picked up his unexplained fallen disguise - for it had been perfectly set moments before every revelation - grin with pleasure, a blink and miss it moment. How Robbie kept a fridge full of vegetables and fruits in his lair, even though the sugar addicted wouldn't touch one ounce of it.

Especially because Sportacus knew the taller man so well, he wasn't immediately alarmed when he saw Robbie tightly covering Zigg's ears, the boy's eyes confused and scared. The elf sensed that something was wrong, his grin falling as he ran to meet the pair.

As he approached, he saw someone else in front of them. It was a man, and Robbie seemed to be darkly glowing at him as they talked, if the other's terrified face was anything to go by.

Robbie was many things, but Sportacus had never associated him with fear.

"- leave, before I make you regret ever coming here." Was the end of the villain's speech to the stranger.

He sounded dead serious, a rarity. Sportacus had only seen the man as intense before when they discussed the boundaries of their relationship.

The stranger dry swallowed, a deep frown forming on his brow as he turned to flee. Sportacus arrived just as he disappeared behind a tree.

"Who was that?" He inquired. Robbie didn't even look surprised at his arrival, eyes firm on the way the man had taken and hands falling from the child's head.

"Loti, the storyteller," Ziggy answered, stepping closer to the hero, uncharastically quiet. "He told us about a quest in the forest, so we all came here." Sportacus holt his breath, dread pooling in his chest like ice stones. The boy continued, sounding dazed. "I got separated from the others, but he found me and said he had a special kind of game for me. Then he-" At that, Robbie laid a hand on the kid's head, messing the blond tresses.

"Go find the others," he ordered, gentle, but firm. "And go back to town. Tell them Loti is gone and that he is not coming back." Ziggy threw an uneasy look at Sportacus, seeking guidance. The elf smiled, as brightly as he could at the moment, urging the child along. "Go on, Ziggy."

"What happened?" His smile fell as soon as the boy turned his back, concern thickening his voice, terror fresh on his tongue.

Robbie shook his head, mouth twisted in anger and disgust. "Nothing too bad," he sarcastically said, with undertones of sorrow, "yet." He completed with a tired sigh, running a hand across his mouth. He sat tiredly on a nearby rock, Sportacus still standing, motionless, but too agitated to sit.

"Are you really going to make me say it?" The villain sighed again, glancing up at the hero, quite forlorn. "A person took advantage of our pacate lifestyle, with children that run amok unsupervised and only four adults present, being one an oblivious idiot, another a bossy air head, the next an sports addicted and the last a villain." He chuckled mirthlessly, slouching. "Besides, it's not like they aren't accustomed to overly eager to please strangers," he shrugged, feigning aloofness as he looked away.

Sportacus sucked in a long breath, closing his eyes and letting that be absorbed. He sat heavily down next to Robbie, his legs suddenly weak. He ran a hand into his hair, pushing hat and goggles off.

They sat in introspective silence for a few moments. "I am glad you were here," Sportacus said eventually, directing a sad smile at Robbie. "I know you have great pride in your title as town's villain, but I am very happy that you are here." He repeated, laying a hand over the other's.

His cristal hadn't gone off. The children had been close to a truly dangerous person, and he hadn't known. If Robbie hadn't intervened, who knows what could have happened to Ziggy before the hero arrived.

The taller man, though, threw him a disbelieving look. "Well, sure, be happy about the person that basically conditioned the children for anyone to simply arrive and whisk them away into 'adventures'," he stood and paced, restless. "Because the worst thing that could happen in the real world is to be sloppily tied to a tree, or have all your toys taken away," he huffed, dragging a hand across his face.

Sportacus reached to him, taking his wrist lightly. "They have learned much from what you call unreal," he pulled until Robbie acquiesced and joined him on the rock again, hands clasped tightly and shoulders pressed together. "And they will learn from this too, about strangers and intentions." He affirmed with conviction, the words strong, but emotion almost choking them, needing to draw strength from his partner to keep going. " The world is here and there, and while we can't protect them forever, there is no need to show how ugly it can be before they know the beauty in it."

The villain said nothing, muscles tense and teeth clenched. He nodded tightly after a few instants. "Okay, go tell the brats about the dangers of suspicious people taking them to dark and isolated forests." He dismissed, waving a careless hand imperiously.

If said hand ended buried in blond curls moments later as they hugged fiercely, clinging to each other in confort, no one mentioned it.

o.O.o

"What did you say to Loti to make him leave so quickly?" Sportacus asked well into the night, stars shining from the sky, head pillowed on a bony shoulder.

He felt the villain shrugg, self conscious in a way he hadn't been since they started their nightly meetings months ago. "Something bad enough that brat's ears weren't fit to hear," he missdirected, moving restless. "Therefore, neither should your pointy ones," he finished satisfied, with a flick that turned into a caress to said appendage.

Sportacus hummed delighted at that, snuggling closer. "Really, what did you say?" He asked again minutes later, curiosity getting the better of him. For all the patience he had when dealing with others, mysteries always gave him a thrill.

Robbie sighed, knowing the other far too persistent for his own good. "Just know that he will never be seen in Lazy Town ever again," he quietly said. "Nor will he ever hurt anyone else, anywhere else," he promised, just as lowly, but more viciously. "Forever." He finished with a smirk, the word just as emphatic as always, but much more dark.

Sportacus did not doubt the villain at all.

He was suddenly reminded that his partner was a magical being that was, if not superior, equal in power to the hero himself. He was also glad that Robbie was selective about his means to getting his results.

"Do you think asteroids-" The elf started, but was silenced by a long finger laid on his lips. "No, no inane questions tonight, you insufferable Sportadork," the villain demanded, eyes closed in mock suffering. "Just stay quiet and look at the sky."

The hero did just that.

The End.


End file.
